CollectionCoptic Orthodox Liturgical Chant and Hymnody

1925 to Present

1925

1926

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

There are two different accounts as to how Ragheb Moftah met Ernest Newlandsmith, the English composer and violinist, in 1926. Newlandsmith was instrumental in getting the entire liturgy of St. Basil and 25 other major and seasonal hymns notated between 1926 and 1936. The most popular account goes as follows: As Newlandsmith was traveling on a Holy pilgrimage to get to Jerusalem, he stopped in Cairo, and this is where he made the acquaintance of Moftah who introduced him to his project. However, in one interview (with Raymond Stock), Moftah recalls traveling to England to invite the musicologist back with him to Egypt to work on Coptic music.

1927

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Anthropologist Winifred Blackman publishes another ethnography about the Fellahīnor the peasant community of Upper Egypt. Though she discusses many traditions and cultural customs in detail, she mentions very little about Coptic religious music. [1]

1931

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Moftah and Newlandsmith travel to England to lecture on Coptic liturgical music at Oxford, Cambridge, and other British universities.

1932

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

The Egyptian government chooses Ragheb Moftah to present Coptic music at the Arab Music Conference of 1932.[3]

1933

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

German musicologist, Hans Hickmann, settles in Egypt and becomes the most prolific writer on Ancient Egyptian instruments of the twentieth century.

Some of his work specifically addresses Coptic musical instruments.[4]

1936

Egyptian History: Major Events

King Farouk II succeeds to the throne after the death of his father, King Fouad I.

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Newlandsmith completes his project with Moftah, leaving him with 16 folios of Coptic music transcribed into Western musical notation.

1939

Egyptian History: Major Events

World War II begins.

1940

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Moftah forms the first Coptic Choir, 1940.

1945

Egyptian History: Major Events

World War II ends.

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Moftah establishes two centers to teach Coptic chant, one in the Bab el-Hadid district, and the other in Misr al-Qadīma or "Old Cairo," as well as summer camps in Alexandria, 1945.

1946

Egyptian History: Major Events

Pope Joseph II becomes the 115th Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria.The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices--a set of gnostic papyri that shed light on an important and controversial aspect of early Christian thinking in Egypt, and that contain texts for prayers and hymns.

1948

Egyptian History: Major Events

Arab-Israeli War.

1949

Egyptian History: Major Events

Soon-to-be president, Gamal Abdel Nasser establishes the Free Officers Movement that later gained enough momentum for the bloodless revolution of 1952 that would put him in power as the second President of independent Egypt.

1952

Egyptian History: Major Events

Egypt gains full independence. Muhammad Najib reconstitutes Egyptian rule that had been lost since 669 B.C. and becomes the first president of an independent Egypt.

1953

Egyptian History: Major Events

The Arab Republic of Egypt is officially declared.

1954

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

French missionary, René Ménard publishes his influential article, "Une étape de l'art musical Egyptien: La musique copte," that legitimizes Coptic chant as indigenously Egyptian. He is also the first to consider the musical form of the complete Coptic liturgy, 1954.[5]

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Coptic historian and scholar, Dr. Aziz S. Atiya founds the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies at Anba Ruweis Patriarchy in Cairo. Originally conceived as a post-graduate school, it was primarily meant to be a research center. Of its eight initial sections, only two flourished on their own: the Section of Art under Issac Fanous and the Section of Coptic Music under Ragheb Moftah.

There, Moftah was responsible for training HICS and Clerical College students in Coptic chants and hymns. Today the HICS is simply known as the Institute of Coptic Studies.

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

1958

Egyptian History: Major Events

Al-Watani is established.

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

René Ménard and Hans Hickmann publish their transcription of Coptic music in the largest German Encyclopedia, Bärenreiter and Metzler’s Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 1958. (Vol.7, between pp. 1616-1617).

1959

Egyptian History: Major Events

Pope Cyril VI, also known as Pope Kyrillos VI, becomes the 116th Patriarch of Alexandria. He is especially noted for rebuilding churches and monasteries throughout Egypt.The Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Church, long under the hegemony of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, obtains its independence and henceforth appoints its own prelates without direction from Egypt.

1964

Egyptian History: Major Events

The first Coptic Orthodox Church in North America is registered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1966

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Hungarian ethnomusicologist, Ilona Borsai spends a winter in Egypt researching Coptic Music, paving the way for Margit Tóth to later join and transcribe music for Ragheb Moftah.

1967

Egyptian History: Major Events

Six Day War with Israel.

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, Professor of the Coptic Seminary and the Librarian of the Society for the Coptic Archeology publishes The Egyptian or Coptic Church: A Detailed Description of her Liturgical Services and the Rites and Ceremonies Observed in the Administration of her Sacraments, organizing Coptic chant in the proper order and contexts in which they are sung, 1967.[6]

1969

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Marian Robertson (later, Marian Robertson-Wilson) spends a year in Egypt as an American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) fellow, perfecting her Arabic, studying Coptic with a professor from HICS, residing with a Coptic family in Giza, attending Coptic services, and participating in many Sunday School activities.The appearance of the Virgin Mary in a great light above a small Coptic church in the Zaytun quarter of Cairo from April through to October inspires many non-liturgical folk songs called taratīl and tarānīm.

1980

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Marian Robertson-Wilson presents the first paper on Coptic music to be given in the United States at an American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) convention sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley. The paper was both well received and garnered interest for the topic.

1981

Egyptian History: Major Events

President Anwar El-Sadat is assassinated; Hosni Mubarak becomes the next and current president of Egypt.

1984

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Marian Robertson-Wilson's initial articles on Coptic music begin appearing, mainly in the Bulletin de la Société d'archéologie copte.[8] Marian Robertson-Wilson returns to Egypt to meet and confer with Ragheb Moftah, who gives her numerous recordings of liturgical music and grants an interview.

1986

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

Nabila Erian completes her doctoral dissertation, "Coptic Music: An Egyptian Tradition," at the University of Maryland, 1986.

1991

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

With Dr. Aziz S. Atiya as its editor-in-chief, The Coptic Encyclopedia is published by Macmillan Company, giving it world-wide distribution. Volume six contains the most extensive articles on Coptic music yet to appear in a general reference work, with Marian Robertson-Wilson as music editor.

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Ragheb Moftah donates 12 audio reels and 25 cassettes of his collection to the Library of Congress.

1992

Coptic Music and Culture: Early Research

The Atiya Foundation for Coptic Studies is established by the Atiya family, headed by Lola Atiya, at the University of Utah, for the purpose of granting awards to qualified scholars doing Coptic research. The last award was given in 2005; the Foundation has now broadened its goals.

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

1992-1997

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Marian Robertson-Wilson, as a consultant to the Music Division of the Library of Congress, identifies all the pieces of the Ragheb Moftah Collection, using twenty-five cassette tapes dubbed off from the original paper reels. By 1997, she writes the Guide to the Ragheb Moftah Collection of Coptic Chant Recordings, to be used in conjunction with the cassette tapes. Due to the damaged condition of the paper reels, however, these hymns were not dubbed in their proper liturgical sequence.

1995

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

The Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, holds a reception in the honor of Ragheb Moftah at the American University in Cairo. Ragheb Moftah signs agreements with the Librarian of Congress to preserve his collection.

1996

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Ragheb Moftah donates 14 folios of Ernest Newlandsmith's transcriptions of the liturgy of St. Basil and 25 major seasonal hymns sung by the Copts throughout the year.

1996-1997

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

1998

The Ragheb Moftah Collection

Famous Egyptian musicologist, Dr. Adel Kamil, interviews Ragheb Moftah for a short biographical film produced by Youssef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of Al-Watani newspaper in Egypt. [view video] The American University in Cairo Press finally publishes The Coptic Orthodox Liturgy of St. Basil with Complete Musical Transcription, compiled by Ragheb Moftah, with transcriptions by Margit Tóth, and texts edited by Martha Roy, in 1998.[9]

O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, The Egyptian or Coptic Church: A Detailed Description of Her Liturgical Services and the Rites and Ceremonies Observed in the Administration of her Sacraments. Cairo: French Institute of Oriental Archeology, 1967. Call number: BX137.K47 1967. [return to timeline]

Bibliography

Al-Sayyid Marsot, Afaf Lutfi. A Short History of Modern Egypt.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Atiya, Aziz. S. "Part I: Alexandrine Christianity, The Copts and Their Church." In History of Eastern Christianity.Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968, pp. 12-166. First published in London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1967.